Legislative Assembly of Ontario Assemblée législative de l Ontario Official Report of Debates (Hansard) Journal des débats (Hansard) No. 4 N o 4 3 rd Session 41 st Parliament Thursday 22 March 2018 3 e session 41 e législature Jeudi 22 mars 2018 Speaker: Honourable Dave Levac Clerk: Todd Decker Président : L honorable Dave Levac Greffier : Todd Decker
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CONTENTS / TABLE DES MATIÈRES Thursday 22 March 2018 / Jeudi 22 mars 2018 ORDERS OF THE DAY / ORDRE DU JOUR Throne speech debate Mr. Wayne Gates... 109 Mr. John Fraser... 111 Ms. Sylvia Jones... 112 Mme France Gélinas... 112 Ms. Sophie Kiwala... 112 Mr. Wayne Gates... 113 Hon. Yasir Naqvi... 113 Hon. Michael Coteau... 114 Ms. Sylvia Jones... 116 Mme France Gélinas... 116 Hon. Dipika Damerla... 116 Mr. Sam Oosterhoff... 117 Hon. Michael Coteau... 117 Mr. Sam Oosterhoff... 117 Debate deemed adjourned... 119 INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS / PRÉSENTATION DES VISITEURS Mrs. Gila Martow... 119 Mr. Peter Tabuns... 119 Mrs. Liz Sandals... 119 Mr. Jack MacLaren... 119 Mrs. Lisa Gretzky... 119 Hon. Reza Moridi... 119 Mr. Monte McNaughton... 119 Mr. Bob Delaney... 119 Ms. Catherine Fife... 119 Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn... 119 Mr. Bill Walker... 119 Hon. Michael Coteau... 119 Mrs. Cristina Martins... 119 Mr. Lou Rinaldi... 120 Mrs. Cristina Martins... 120 Hon. Indira Naidoo-Harris... 120 Ms. Deborah Matthews... 120 Vandalism of synagogue Ms. Lisa MacLeod... 120 ORAL QUESTIONS / QUESTIONS ORALES Provincial deficit Ms. Lisa MacLeod... 120 Hon. Yasir Naqvi... 120 Hon. Steven Del Duca... 120 Hydro rates Ms. Lisa MacLeod... 121 Hon. Yasir Naqvi... 121 Hon. Steven Del Duca... 122 Dental care Mr. Peter Tabuns... 122 Hon. Yasir Naqvi... 122 Health care Ms. Peggy Sattler... 123 Hon. Yasir Naqvi... 123 Provincial deficit Ms. Lisa MacLeod... 124 Hon. Charles Sousa... 124 Health care Mrs. Lisa Gretzky... 124 Hon. Helena Jaczek... 125 Apprenticeship training Ms. Ann Hoggarth... 125 Hon. Mitzie Hunter... 125 Ministers comments Ms. Laurie Scott... 126 Hon. Charles Sousa... 126 Long-term care Ms. Jennifer K. French... 126 Hon. Helena Jaczek... 127 Life insurance Mr. Jack MacLaren... 127 Hon. Charles Sousa... 127 Hon. Dipika Damerla... 128 Water quality Mr. Lou Rinaldi... 128 Hon. Chris Ballard... 128 Medical graduates Mrs. Gila Martow... 128 Hon. Helena Jaczek... 129 Dental care Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong... 129 Hon. Helena Jaczek... 129 Research and innovation Mrs. Cristina Martins... 130 Hon. Reza Moridi... 130 Visitors Mr. Bill Walker... 130 Mr. Percy Hatfield... 130 Hon. Yasir Naqvi... 130 INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS / PRÉSENTATION DES VISITEURS Mr. Arthur Potts... 130 Mrs. Gila Martow... 131
MEMBERS STATEMENTS / DÉCLARATIONS DES DÉPUTÉS World Water Day Mr. Ernie Hardeman... 131 Speaker s Book Award Mr. Percy Hatfield... 131 School accommodation Mr. Yvan Baker... 131 Life insurance Mr. Jack MacLaren... 132 Medical graduates Mrs. Gila Martow... 132 Elijah Hennessey Mr. Michael Mantha... 132 Adam Lake Mr. Harinder S. Takhar... 132 Hospice care Mr. Lorne Coe... 133 Retired Teachers of Ontario Ms. Ann Hoggarth... 133 International Women s Day Mrs. Julia Munro... 133 INTRODUCTION OF BILLS / DÉPÔT DES PROJETS DE LOI Respecting Municipal Authority Over Landfilling Sites Act, 2018, Bill 16, Mr. Hardeman / Loi de 2018 sur le respect des pouvoirs des municipalités à l égard des lieux d enfouissement, projet de loi 16, M. Hardeman First reading agreed to... 134 Mr. Ernie Hardeman... 134 Long-Term Care Homes Amendment Act (Preference for Veterans), 2018, Bill 17, Ms. Forster / Loi de 2018 modifiant la Loi sur les foyers de soins de longue durée (préférence accordée aux anciens combattants), projet de loi 17, Mme Forster First reading agreed to... 134 Ms. Cindy Forster... 134 Careers in Medicine Advisory Committee Act, 2018, Bill 18, Mrs. Martow / Loi de 2018 sur le Comité consultatif pour les carrières en médecine, projet de loi 18, Mme Martow First reading agreed to... 134 Mrs. Gila Martow... 134 Ontario Forestry Revitalization Act (14 Storey Wood Frame Buildings), 2018, Bill 19, Mr. Fedeli / Loi de 2018 sur la revitalisation de la foresterie en Ontario (bâtiments à ossature de bois de 14 étages), projet de loi 19, M. Fedeli First reading agreed to... 134 Mr. Victor Fedeli... 135 Insurance Amendment Act (Life Loans), 2018, Bill 20, Mr. MacLaren / Loi de 2018 modifiant la Loi sur les assurances (prêts sur l assurance-vie), projet de loi 20, M. MacLaren First reading agreed to... 135 Mr. Jack MacLaren... 135 MOTIONS Appointment of temporary Financial Accountability Officer Hon. Tracy MacCharles... 135 Motion agreed to... 135 PETITIONS / PÉTITIONS Dental care Mr. Bill Walker... 135 Cardiac care Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong... 135 Animal protection Mr. Arthur Potts... 136 Government advertising Mrs. Gila Martow... 136 Hospital funding Mr. Michael Mantha... 136 Energy contracts Mr. Jim McDonell... 136 Injured workers Mr. Percy Hatfield... 137 Voting age Mr. Arthur Potts... 137 Wind turbines Mr. Sam Oosterhoff... 137 Energy policies Mr. Michael Mantha... 138 Addiction services Mr. Percy Hatfield... 138 PRIVATE MEMBERS PUBLIC BUSINESS / AFFAIRES D INTÉRÊT PUBLIC ÉMANANT DES DÉPUTÉS Taxpayer Protection Amendment Act, 2018, Bill 15, Mr. Hillier / Loi de 2018 modifiant la Loi sur la protection des contribuables, projet de loi 15, M. Hillier Mr. Randy Hillier... 138 Mr. Percy Hatfield... 140 Mr. Arthur Potts... 141 Mr. Sam Oosterhoff... 142
Mr. John Vanthof... 143 Mr. Lorne Coe... 143 Mr. Yvan Baker... 143 Mr. Bill Walker... 144 Mr. Randy Hillier... 145 Personal Information Protection Act, 2018, Bill 14, Mr. Takhar / Loi de 2018 sur la protection des renseignements personnels, projet de loi 14, M. Takhar Mr. Harinder S. Takhar... 146 Mr. Bill Walker... 147 Ms. Cindy Forster... 148 Mr. James J. Bradley... 149 Mr. Jim McDonell... 149 Mr. Michael Mantha... 150 Mr. Bob Delaney... 151 Mrs. Gila Martow... 152 Mr. Harinder S. Takhar... 153 Magna Carta Day Act, 2018, Bill 4, Mrs. Munro / Loi de 2018 sur le Jour de la Grande Charte, projet de loi 4, Mme Munro Mrs. Julia Munro... 153 Ms. Jennifer K. French... 154 Hon. Mitzie Hunter... 155 Mrs. Gila Martow... 156 Mr. Peter Tabuns... 157 Mr. Shafiq Qaadri... 157 Ms. Sylvia Jones... 158 Mr. Randy Hillier... 158 Mr. James J. Bradley... 159 Mrs. Julia Munro... 159 Taxpayer Protection Amendment Act, 2018, Bill 15, Mr. Hillier / Loi de 2018 modifiant la Loi sur la protection des contribuables, projet de loi 15, M. Hillier The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong)... 160 Personal Information Protection Act, 2018, Bill 14, Mr. Takhar / Loi de 2018 sur la protection des renseignements personnels, projet de loi 14, M. Takhar Second reading agreed to... 160 Magna Carta Day Act, 2018, Bill 4, Mrs. Munro / Loi de 2018 sur le Jour de la Grande Charte, projet de loi 4, Mme Munro Second reading agreed to... 160 Taxpayer Protection Amendment Act, 2018, Bill 15, Mr. Hillier / Loi de 2018 modifiant la Loi sur la protection des contribuables, projet de loi 15, M. Hillier Second reading negatived... 160 ORDERS OF THE DAY / ORDRE DU JOUR Throne speech debate Mr. Sam Oosterhoff... 161 Ms. Jennifer K. French... 162 Mr. James J. Bradley... 162 Mr. Robert Bailey... 163 Mr. John Vanthof... 163 Mr. Sam Oosterhoff... 163 Mr. Peter Tabuns... 164 Hon. Harinder Malhi... 166 Mrs. Gila Martow... 167 Ms. Jennifer K. French... 167 Hon. David Zimmer... 167 Mr. Peter Tabuns... 168 Mr. Joe Dickson... 168 Hon. Jeff Leal... 169 Mrs. Gila Martow... 171 Mr. John Vanthof... 171 Mr. Arthur Potts... 171 Mr. Lorne Coe... 172 Hon. Jeff Leal... 172 Mr. Lorne Coe... 172 Ms. Sylvia Jones... 173 Debate deemed adjourned... 174
109 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L ONTARIO Thursday 22 March 2018 Jeudi 22 mars 2018 The House met at 0900. The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Good morning. Please join me in prayer. Prayers. ORDERS OF THE DAY THRONE SPEECH DEBATE Resuming the debate adjourned on March 21, 2018, on the motion for an address in reply to the speech of Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor at the opening of the session. The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Further debate. The member from Niagara Falls. Mr. Wayne Gates: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing me to rise today and discuss the throne speech. With my time, I d like to go over some of the things that were in the speech, but first I would like to begin with things that are not in the speech and how they affect my communities. We know that this budget is going to have to have a lot of spending in it, but I still worry that the priorities aren t there. This government has had 15 years to figure out what their priorities are, so I want to go down the list of issues in my communities and raise them in response to the throne speech and before the budget is released. Let me start with Fort Erie, Madam Speaker. You changed very quickly; there you go. Working together, we have accomplished some incredible things in Fort Erie. We ve managed to build a state-of-the-art educational institution for our children. There is still work to be done there to ensure that there are no capacity issues as the town grows and that kids have access to the very best as it becomes available to them. But we ve made progress. Now we have the opportunity to use those old schools as community hubs and bring a number of community groups under one roof and expand those services. This is an incredible opportunity and one I am proud to work with the community in supporting. This is a way we can ensure that the services offered in Crystal Beach, Ridgeway, Stevensville and Fort Erie itself can be expanded and made accessible to everyone in the town while using a property that is currently empty. On the issue of the Fort Erie Race Track and I know I ve talked about this constantly for the last four years but it s an issue I m passionate about we ve made a lot of progress. Working together with the town and the residents, we saved the track from closure, and we have been able to reverse Woodbine s damaging stalling policy, which threatened our track. But let me say this clearly: We need gaming back. There are 300 jobs if we do that 300 jobs if we do that. I want it to be slots. If I could put them in there myself, I would, but we need this government to commit to returning gaming to Fort Erie. This budget could provide for the people of Fort Erie and it could create good-paying jobs. Madam Speaker, I m going to talk about something else that s incredibly important to me: long-term care. Seniors our parents, our grandparents built our communities. They built our communities with their bare hands and raised their families, yet when they need to rely on this government for long-term care or home care, they are being let down. Waiting lists for long-term care have exploded. There are over 30,000 residents on waiting lists right now. In some cases they re waiting over a year. The Premier should be ashamed of that record. Seniors deserve better, and their issues must be championed. We need a new direction that actually respects seniors and puts them first. Forget these wasteful privatization schemes that this government is focused on. Solving the long-term-care crisis in Niagara needs to be put at the top of their priority list. The PCs have absolutely no right to comment on this. The last time they were in charge, they froze hospital budgets, cut home care, closed 28 hospitals and fired 6,000 nurses. We also need to talk about health care more generally in the province of Ontario. Right now across this province we have people waiting in hallways to get the medical care they need. Let me say this clearly: Not one person in our province should have to wait for hours in a hallway to see a doctor or to get the care they need. Health care is a right, and so is getting the health care you need when you need it. We can solve this problem in Niagara. If we move up the build of the new hospital, we can eliminate hallway medicine in Niagara Falls. Not only can we provide a higher standard of care for residents, but we can create good-paying jobs for local workers. If we move up the build, we can provide residents with a decent standard of health care, and working families with a decent income. There is absolutely no reason why the ministry should not focus its attention on making this happen. Madam Speaker, another health care issue is mental health supports. I can t stress how urgent the need to deal with the lack of mental health supports is. We have thousands of children on wait-lists trying to see a doctor who need our help. They can t wait for the support they need.
110 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO 22 MARCH 2018 They need it now. People are struggling, and they feel like they re struggling alone. We need to reach out and tell them that they re not alone, that we re here for them and we re taking this very seriously. That means investing in these supports immediately. If there s one thing we can justify spending government funds on, it has to be providing mental health support to residents. We can do this in coordinated fashion and put these all under one ministry with a mandate to fix the crisis. When people are struggling with mental health issues, they begin to struggle at work or find it even harder to find a job in the first place. It isn t hard to see how this impacts our province, so it makes good economic sense to provide this service as well. I know the PCs don t support this action because they were the ones who closed mental health facilities down in the first place but this is too important to ignore. In addition to moving up the build of the new hospital, we must also move up the GO train deadline. Again, the quicker we make these projects happen, the sooner we can put people to work. If you understand what I m trying to say here whether it s in Fort Erie, Niagara Falls or all of Niagara, what are we talking about? Putting people to work with good-paying jobs they can support their families on. 0910 We ve been meeting with Metrolinx executives and the executives from Niagara Health on both of these issues to try to move up the dates, because it s clear to the people in Niagara Falls that they need these services sooner rather than later. On the GO train file, we should be extremely proud. All of the actors across a number of levels were able to come together and make this project happen everyone except the PCs, who were opposed to the project. Regardless of that, we were able to show what we can accomplish when we all work together. I invite those members to work with us on this project and to move these deadlines up. Our cities are growing; we need those services now to keep up. Madam Speaker, as you can tell, I m going through my riding, if anybody was wondering. Let s talk about Niagara-on-the-Lake. In Niagara-onthe-Lake we have the best wineries, the best craft brewers, and some of the best food and hospitality you can find anywhere in the world. Now is the time to invest in these businesses and remove the barriers they face. They re growing at an incredible rate and, more importantly, they re providing jobs for our residents. Mr. Brad Duguid: I m listening to you, Gatesy. Mr. Wayne Gates: I appreciate that. The government should be supporting these industries and doing everything in its power to ensure that they grow to their full potential. Let me talk about arts and culture in Niagara-on-the- Lake. Niagara-on-the-Lake s arts and culture industry is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Places like the Shaw have created an industry that not only draws in tens of thousands of visitors to support our local industries but provides careers for young people in the arts. It provides a soul for our province. I know that many politicians overlook how important the arts and culture industry is in communities, but that s a mistake. I ll say that again: That s a mistake. If they want an example of how well that industry supports towns and cities, and why they need government investment, I invite them to come to Niagara-on-the-Lake and tour the wonderful town with me. I guarantee you, it will make my point. We also need to talk about developments and what role this province will play in ensuring that developments are sustainable. Niagara-on-the-Lake is truly a jewel of Canada. The residents have worked very hard to preserve the incredible history of the town, which, quite frankly, is the history of this great nation and province. People live there because they love their community. Right now, there s a controversial development project in the town which revolves around a resort that will include a sixstorey building I ll repeat that: It will include a sixstorey building. The most important thing to me about this project is to listen to the residents first. They re the ones who have built and maintained that town and made it what it is today. They deserve the credit for making the town what it is and their voices must be heard. They don t want to lose the character that makes that town so special, and frankly, I stand with them. Madam Speaker, this government does have a role to play in this. I know there s going to be changes to the OMB so it s clear they re willing to work on this. They have to make sure that that process takes into account what the residents want, what the community wants, what the town wants and, quite frankly, what elected officials want. I d also like to talk about the Niagara-on-the-Lake historical society and museum. A little while ago I was contacted by the society asking me to support their request for increased funding through the Community Museum Operating Grant. When this request came to my office, I didn t even think twice about supporting this. The work they do there is incredible. They preserve the history of the town but also the history of this country which flows through the town. They work hard to build a sense of community in Niagara-on-the-Lake and to ensure that their doors are open to the residents. Of course, like in every community, I have to mention the volunteers. The time and effort that their volunteers put in to make the historical society and museum operate the way it does is nothing short of inspiring. I know a lot of you have heard me bragging about those residents, but I ll say it again: As the MPP who represents them, I m truly blessed to have such selfless people working in our community. For those reasons, I want to say in this House that the work they do deserves support, and I m proud to join in their request to continue to increase this funding. I have seen first-hand the good work that they do in the community. I believe this is exactly what the provincial funding should be used for.
22 MARS 2018 ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L ONTARIO 111 I d like to talk about another issue that stretches across all communities: hydro rates. I know the Premier doesn t like to talk about it anymore, but hydro rates are a crisis in Niagara. People and businesses are struggling to cover the costs that have come because of the privatization of Hydro One. It was wrong then, and the rates today show that. We need a new plan that gives people hope and that actually lowers their rates. Seniors shouldn t have to choose between hydro bills and medication. Young people shouldn t have to choose between owning a home and hydro bills. Employers shouldn t have to worry about hydro bills or hiring someone. In Niagara, we re directly beside the Falls, yet we watch the province sell our power at a loss to the United States. It s absolutely unacceptable that this is still happening today. People have been fighting against this for four years. The Premier needs to act. It s time to put an end to the wasteful privatization scheme and actually produce a plan which lowers hydro bills. That means bringing hydro back into public plans and lowering their bills by 40%. That makes more sense than padding the pockets of private investors or the rich and famous. We ve seen it with gas prices, too. We offered a solution, and it was voted down by the Liberal Party. It s clearly not a priority for them. The prices of a barrel of oil are still lower than they were a few years ago, yet our prices keep going up. I was in my riding again yesterday. It s $1.27. We never see those savings at the pump; instead, what we see are constantly increasing gasoline prices and excuses that aren t worth the paper they are written on. My residents, your residents and residents all over the province of Ontario are not dumb. They can see what s happening here. They know they are being gouged, and they know the government is doing nothing to stop it. I m going to repeat that line, because it s important: They know they are being gouged, and they know the government is doing nothing to stop it. Just last week in Niagara Falls, the gas prices jumped by 10 cents for no reason at all, overnight. Hon. Daiene Vernile: Isn t that a federal issue? Mr. Wayne Gates: As the Liberals are heckling me a little bit over there the reality is, you shouldn t go to bed at 12 o clock at night and it s $1.17, and the very next day you wake up and it s $1.27. That s happening right here in Ontario. It s happening in your community that s heckling you. Your residents don t like it, just like my residents don t like it. So if you want to heckle me on gas prices, go right ahead, but I think it s wrong in the province of Ontario. Hon. Chris Ballard: I m agreeing with you Mr. Wayne Gates: I appreciate that. That means bringing hydro back into public plans and lowering the bills by 30%. That makes a lot more sense than padding the pockets. I ve got only three minutes left, and I m glad I finally woke the Liberals up. If it s a long weekend, we know the prices are going to jump again. It s nothing more than gouging, and the people need a break. It s all about affordability; whether it s hydro bills or whether it s the gas prices, that s what it s about. That s our job here: Making sure it s affordable to live in the province of Ontario. On this throne speech, all I can say is this: It seems there s far too little here and that it s far too late. The Liberals are now saying that they care about child care and about prescription medicine. They now say they care about hallway medicine and long-term-care wait-lists. They ve had 15 years to fix these problems. How can they expect us to believe they want to fix them now? How can anybody believe them? 0920 Madam Speaker, I believe we need pharmacare in this province for everyone. I believe we need dental care in this province for everyone. We can do this. We don t need the $6.1 billion worth of cuts that Doug Ford is promising. Families don t need more cuts in their lives. Instead, they need things that will give them hope. They need change, but they need change for the better, change that will help them get ahead and have better services. Madam Speaker, the throne speech didn t mention homeowners at all. One of the things we ve been working so hard on is Tarion reform. Ultimately, we ended up voting against that bill because it simply didn t protect homeowners. That s the key to the bill: It didn t protect homeowners. Homeowners need us; they need us now. Getting rid of Tarion but replacing it with another system that still gives too much power to home builders and not enough power to homeowners is no better. What about the people who have been battling with Tarion for years already? This government had a chance to make this right and they failed that test, so it s time for a real change on that front. I can say I m happy to see our NDP finance critic was able to pass a motion directing the Auditor General to investigate Tarion. I suppose I could sum up my feelings on this by simply saying that it s about time. There is so much more that needs to be done for the homeowners, but this is an important step which will prove many of the things activists and homeowners have been saying for years. Madam Speaker, there are so many issues here that it s hard to see where to begin. Obviously, this throne speech can t contain everything, but it s clear to me that they missed some very big priorities. I look forward to seeing the budget and going through it in detail. I hope it addresses some of these glaring holes. We need change in the province of Ontario. We need change for the better. The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Questions and comments? Mr. John Fraser: It s a pleasure to respond to the member from Niagara Falls. I always do appreciate his comments, especially when he talks about his riding. I don t think we agree on all things it s probably about 50-50 in that speech but I very much appreciate his local efforts and his efforts to raise the profile of his riding.
112 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO 22 MARCH 2018 The throne speech is about choices. It s about the intentionality of our choices, and it s very clear what we re going to do. If you take a look at the announcement yesterday on mental health and the $2.1 billion over the next four years for more access to community-based therapy, mental health workers for high schools, more youth wellness hubs, more supportive housing, and more access to residential withdrawal and treatment services for youth and adults suffering from addictions, I think that s very clear about what our intentions are and what we re going to do to achieve that. I would like to remind the member about choices. He talked about mental health beds, and I just want to remind him: When your party was in power, you made choices too. You closed 13% of the mental health beds. That s not to wag a finger. I m just saying that we all have to make choices. We all know that in this House. He wanted to talk about change. Actually, things that change people s lives are eliminating coal so there are lower rates of childhood asthma, and full-day kindergarten so the kids get a better start in life and families can get out there and participate in the economy earlier. It s like OHIP+, making sure that every child and youth under 25 has access to free prescription medications. It s like fighting for that stronger Canada Pension Plan so that everybody has some more retirement security. Those are the things that change people s lives. That s change, and that s what we have been doing for 15 years. The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Questions and comments? Ms. Sylvia Jones: I m happy to add my few minutes of comments to the member from Niagara Falls. I think all of us use the opportunity of responding to a throne speech to talk about our riding, and it s perfectly appropriate for him to do so. But when he talks about the activity and points fingers at other parties about mental health, I think that we have to put a few facts on the record. I understand the member has been here since 2014, but perhaps he could go and speak to his member from Nickel Belt and talk about the 18 months that, collectively, all of us from the three political parties spent on mental health and addictions. It came out as a result of a 2008 resolution from a wait for it Progressive Conservative member. Then the committee was ultimately struck, and 18 months later we came forward with a report. So please please don t tell me that only one political party has a lock or can be able to speak on specific issues, because it s wrong and it s not conducive to the type of co-operative legislative activities that we can do here when we actually work together and come forward collectively with positive ideas. I m pleased that he was talking about mental health and the need for further investments, but to suggest that one political party did nothing while everybody else was talking about it is clearly wrong. All you have to do is look at the 2008 resolution and the 2010 all-party support that came out as a result of that. The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Questions and comments? M me France Gélinas: I was very interested in this piece that was given by the member from Niagara, who really showed what 15 years of Liberal government means in his riding. He went through the different responsibilities of the provincial government and what that looks like on the ground. He gives the example of the Niagara Health System, the hospital that is in his riding that has been overcrowded just like every other large community hospital throughout Ontario where people are admitted to the hospital but there is no bed for them; where all of a sudden, what used to be a bathroom or a shower room is becoming a bed for people to be admitted to; where what used to be a TV room or a lounge is now a place for four, sometimes five people to be admitted. Those are rooms that don t have a sink. Those are rooms that don t have a bathroom. Those are rooms where the indignity of people goes on and on, where you have to use a commode, where everybody in the room knows that you are using the commode. It is degrading. It is not what people expect from our hospitals, but this is where we are at in Ontario. He gives good examples of what that means for the people he represents. He also talks about the need for pharmacare. Ontario has six drug plans right now, the latest one being OHIP+. But pharmacare means universal. It means no matter who you are, your age or your condition, you will have drug coverage. This is something that people need, people want. We now have a speech from the throne that promises to undo all of the damage they have done for 15 years. They have had 15 years to do that. The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Questions and comments? Ms. Sophie Kiwala: It really is a pleasure to rise today and to speak to the comments made by the member from Niagara Falls. I just want to reiterate what the member from Ottawa South said with respect to what a great advocate he is for his community. He did spend a little bit of time talking about the tremendous culture in Niagara Falls. I can attest and do so proudly in front of our Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport that we do support tourism, culture and sport in all of our communities. As the former PA, I know that well. Some $32.5 billion is contributed to our economy every single year, and 400,000 direct jobs as a result of culture and sport in our communities. So I reiterate that the member from Niagara Falls is absolutely correct: The culture in the Niagara Falls area is absolutely alive and well. 0930 I do also want to talk a little bit about the mental health piece of the throne speech. The four-year investment of $2.1 billion is actually going to rebuild the system. I would also like to reiterate the comments made by the member for Dufferin Caledon, that we really do need to co-operatively and collectively work together. Listening to the throne speech and hearing each of the pieces and how they are going to rebuild, frame and improve the
22 MARS 2018 ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L ONTARIO 113 lives of Ontarians across the province was extremely inspiring. Just on the mental health piece, we re going to have easier access for local schools to mental health care and community-based organizations. And 12,000 more young people will access services The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Thank you. I ll return back to the member from Niagara Falls to wrap up. Mr. Wayne Gates: I ll start with the last speaker, because I think she said some things that are very, very important. Niagara and the Ministry of Culture the $32 billion in investment. I believe that Niagara deserves more; we need more. So I m trying to tell you to send some money down to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Falls and Fort Erie. The one thing she also said is that Niagara is alive and well. I agree with her on that. I think that s because they ve got a really good MPP down in Niagara Falls. I think that s the reason why it s alive and well, so I appreciate that compliment. I ll talk to my good friend from Ottawa as well. On mental health issues, let s be clear: In my riding, in my area not just my riding, but the other MPPs from Niagara, including St. Catharines and Welland the Liberals closed 70% of the mental health beds in Niagara, at a time when we need it the most. As we all know, one in five now have mental health issues. To my colleague from the PC Party, who talked about the committee that they had and that it s all three parties: I only say the facts, and the fact of the matter is that the PC Party under Harris because I know; I participated in all the days of action that we had to have in the province of Ontario did close 28 hospitals. There s no argument there. Six thousand nurses lost their jobs; there s no argument there. But when you talk about mental health, not only did they close 28 hospitals, they also closed all of the mental health hospitals. All of the mental health hospitals were closed under their leadership. What bothered me the most around that is that they didn t take the money they got from closing them and reinvest it back into mental health services. That was a mistake. That was a mistake for young people who were suffering from mental health The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Thank you. Further debate? I recognize the Attorney General. Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to speak on the speech from the throne. I will be sharing my time with the member from Don Valley East as well. It s always a great honour and privilege to stand up in this House, in this Legislature, and speak on issues that are important to our province and to my community of Ottawa Centre. It s an even greater honour when I see a good friend of mine going back to university days, Suleman Aziz, who s here in the House with his family. We go back to our late teens and early twenties. He can share a few stories about me through university days. They are here because Suleman s son Humza is a page from Guelph. So it s really a welcome to the whole family. Thank you for being here. I m very excited to speak about this speech from the throne because it s a speech that speaks to the values that we all share as members of our society and our community. The value is one and simple, and that is to look after each other and to care for each other in our lives every single day. As human beings fathers and mothers, grandparents, uncles and aunts, friends and neighbours we are determined to look after each other and we are persuaded to look after each other and to care for each other. As a father of two young children, the number one big lesson that I continue to teach my children is to look after each other, to care for each other, because that s the most important value we have. This speech from the throne really captures that. I think it s exciting to talk about that, because sometimes governments are seen as large institutions removed from our daily lives. People forget that government has a very important role: to make our lives easier and to make our lives better. This particular speech from the throne, and my reason for supporting the speech, is exactly that, because it really focuses on things that matter to us, and that is to care for each other. The speech really encapsulates our desire to build a caring and fair society, a society that gives everybody an opportunity to grow, because that s how we will build Ontario up. When I m in my community of Ottawa Centre, the conversations I m having with people at the doors as I am out canvassing every weekend as I do and as I have been doing over the last 10 years since I ve been an elected member of provincial Parliament are around the kind of initiatives the government is working on that are making life easier for everyone. Things like OHIP+ making sure that we ve got, truly, for the very first time, a pharmacare program that is going to help our children and youth until the age of 25. I cannot tell you how many parents come up to me or tell me at their doors what an incredible program it is and that it s the right thing to do. Now that we are planning to expand that program to cover all our seniors 65 and plus I think it s even more exciting to note that we are getting that much closer to a universal pharmacare program, with a coverage of all 4,400 medications that are available by way of prescription. Similarly, with the expansion of the OSAP program to ensure that students who come from low- to mid-income families are able to get the college and university education they deserve: No longer is the criteria whether you have the ability or the means to go to college or university. The financial part is taken care of. If we are going to truly put an end to the cycle of poverty, we know education is the most powerful tool to accomplish that. By making free tuition available for students coming from low-income families to mid-income families is a tremendous move. Not to mention the increase in minimum wage, to $14 an hour starting last January and then to $15 an hour on
114 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO 22 MARCH 2018 January 1, 2019: Truly, making sure we have a living wage in our province is really creating an opportunity for people who rely on minimum wage to live a better life so that they are not depending on food banks and so that they are actually able to use that money to buy clothes for their families and to get good, healthy food for their children the kinds of things we should all care about. That is what a care agenda looks like, where we are focusing on things that help people in their day-to-day lives. That is what our government is doing. I would be remiss if I did not speak about the kinds of important investments we are making in my community of Ottawa Centre to make sure that people have the most important public services available to them, because those are key things like education, health care and infrastructure. In terms of health care, we are really fortunate in Ottawa Centre to have three really robust community health centres that provide just remarkable health and social services at a community level in the downtown core of Ottawa. All of those three community health centres are growing, thanks to the investments that our government is making. 0940 For example, we just recently started a major expansion project at Centretown Community Health Centre over $5.4 million so that they can serve more people from our community on things like mental health and addiction services, diabetes, child care: very important services to have a healthy downtown community. Similarly, the Somerset West Community Health Centre was just recently approved as a supervised safe injection site by the federal government. Our government is providing them the operational funding and the capital funding so that a supervised injection site could open as quickly as possible. Again, that just goes to saving lives, making sure that those in our community who are suffering from the disease of addiction, are victims of this opioid crisis, have the kinds of the supports they need right in the community. I m also very excited about the Carlington Community Health Centre, which is building a very unique housing and health hub. They re building 42 affordable housing units for seniors, but they will have access to state-of-theart community health care right onsite. That s a project almost close to $5 million. That is taking place between my riding and Ottawa West Nepean, represented by Mr. Chiarelli. Similarly, on the health care front, the Ottawa heart institute, which is a remarkable institution, is seeing a $200-million expansion. Actually, the opening is tomorrow, so I can t wait to tell you how excited we are to have that world-class health care. Education is another fundamental value, as I spoke to earlier. When I see the schools in my community, like the new Broadview school, a $15-million investment, up and running and Elmdale Public School, located in Wellington Village, will be seeing an investment of $3.6 million so that we can build an addition and then upgrade this historic school into a modern place for our students to learn. I m really excited to note that, for the first time, we have our first French public school, École élémentaire publique Centre-Nord, in my community. We had a French Catholic school; now we also have a French public school, where my son is attending and getting his education now, making sure that we are further promoting and expanding education in French. I m also privileged to have Carleton University in my riding, which continues to grow with quality programming, with more students getting a good education. Of course, a lot of those students are benefiting from the changes that we have made to our OSAP program. Speaker, lastly, on infrastructure, if I may very quickly highlight to you: The LRT construction is going forward. Phase 1 is almost done an investment of $600 million by our government. But we re not just stopping there. We, in fact, have already committed an over $1-billion investment in phase 2 of the LRT. That will really connect the rest of the city to the downtown core, including our airport, so that Ottawa, as a capital city, is really, genuinely a G7 city. We re really, really excited about that. Not to mention the investments we re making in affordable housing, such as projects by Cornerstone Housing for Women and the John Howard Society, where we really focused on putting an end to chronic homelessness, in parallel with the provincial Ontario housing strategy. These projects, which are happening in the downtown core in the community of Ottawa Centre, the riding that I have the honour of serving are really starting to make an impact in making sure that people have access to good housing with appropriate supports around mental health and addiction and other health care services. Speaker, I can go on and on, but I just wanted to give you a highlight of what, really on the ground, on the front line, in the community a care agenda looks like, an agenda that is championed by our Premier and this government. That s why I am so motivated and excited to support this speech from the throne and the budget that is coming. I urge all members to do the same thing. The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): I recognize the Minister of Children and Youth Services. Hon. Michael Coteau: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. It s a pleasure to stand today in this House and speak to the throne speech. I want to start by talking about where we are as Ontarians. I believe that there are a lot of Ontarians who need help out there. We re a government that I believe has put in place a lot of different options for people to access services and help when necessary. But I also just want to mention that if you listen to the opposition consistently speak about the state of Ontario, you get a very gloomy picture: that Ontario is just this horrible place that is existing, where everyone is doing poorly, our economy is doing poorly, our health care system is doing poorly and our education system is doing poorly. The fact is, Madam Speaker, that Ontario is a
22 MARS 2018 ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L ONTARIO 115 great place to live. Ontario is, without a question in my mind, one of the most beautiful places and one of the best places anyone can live in on this entire planet. That s why we get so many people from around the world coming to Ontario each year; we get so many people from across the country coming to Ontario every single year. They talk about the economy being so bad in Ontario. You hear these little pieces of information they put forward especially the Conservatives. They talk about the economy doing poorly. I think it was back in 2012 that there were more buildings being built in the GTA than all of North America combined. The former Premier used to say that. Our economy is the strongest now of the G7 countries. We have the lowest unemployment in almost 20 years. There are a lot of great things that are happening in Ontario. We ve gone through a transition. Our economy has changed. We ve gone from more of an analog- to a digital-style economy, so things are going well. When I hear the opposition talk about how sad it is in Ontario and things are so gloomy you know what? Get out there and talk to people. Knock on some doors, walk down the street, talk to people about how they feel being in Ontario and you get a completely different picture than this image you get that is coming from the opposition. We want to put in services and we want to make sure that people have the services they need when they need them. I remember growing up in Flemingdon Park and in Don Mills. My mother was a superintendent of a building. She used to clean the building that we lived in. I can remember when my parents separated I was about 15 or 16 years old my mother had to go and change her job because it just didn t pay enough. She actually got a job at it was called Bloorview MacMillan at the time, and she served food there. That s what she did for a living to put food on the table in our house. I remember that the management company said that she had to leave the building because she was no longer the superintendent. I remember my mother going to the Flemingdon Park legal clinic to get help because we were being thrown out of the building. I can remember her getting that help and someone there working with her, and we finally got to stay in the building. I always think of that story, and I think of my brother, who went back to school and he was working in a restaurant. It was a low-paying job. He decided to go back to upgrade his skill sets and so he took the Second Career course. This was maybe in 2007-08. It was another government program that was offered by our province. My brother is now a welder in the Kitchener Waterloo area; he is a welder out there for Caterpillar. For me, those are the types of things that we need to have in place, so when people go through some challenges they have the help out there. But there is a myth out there. There is a myth that Liberals are not good managers of the economy. There s a myth out there that you know, it s funny, someone came to see me recently to talk about the Liberal record. He was a Progressive Conservative. We sat down in my office. Mr. James J. Bradley: Progressive Conservative. Hon. Michael Coteau: A Progressive Conservative, that s right. We had a really good conversation. I went through some of the numbers and went through some of the data, and I showed him numbers that came out from some think tanks that are not necessarily very supportive of Liberals. But they concluded as well that the economy has been managed well over the last decade when we went through almost a decade ago, it was the start of one of the worst economic recessions in the history of this country. During that time period, the Harper government, who were Conservatives in power the former leader of their party was part of that regime they ran the largest deficit in the history of Canada. In addition to that, if you think about Ontario, and I don t know if many Conservatives know this, but the budget has been balanced in this province in the last 45 years, I think, nine times. Five of those times have been managed by Liberals; it s been balanced by Liberals. 0950 Going back to Harper, by the time he came in up until 2015, he ran a deficit, collectively, of about $150 billion, so all the gains that Chrétien and Martin made over those years were just completely wiped out. There s a myth out there in Ontario that the Conservatives are these great managers of the economy. This is what the Conservatives do when they come into power. This is the game plan. It doesn t matter if you are in Ontario, if you are across this country or even in the United States; this is what the Conservatives do: They come in and they say, Enough is enough. We re going to make some cuts because we need to save money. But here s what happens: They make those cuts for example, I was part of the literacy sector, and the Conservatives, these guys, cut $27 million from literacy and basic skills. You know when you talk about helping a person? That s the basic form of helping a person: having them have the ability to read. They cut that funding to adult literacy. The Conservatives opposite, when they were in power and this is, I think, the best example anyone can give about the type of approach the Conservatives take here in Ontario, which is so opposite from what we have offered in our throne speech. Developmental disabilities in Ontario was cut by 7%. Think about that for a second. These are our most vulnerable people in our society, the developmentally delayed. Developmental services: That line was cut by 7%. So when the Conservatives stand up and they say, You know, you re not doing enough for these folks and you re not doing enough for these folks, when you go down to the very basics, literacy and basic skills, and when you talk about things like developmental delay and developmental services, imagine a government making those cuts to those types of services. I think it just says exactly who we re dealing with. We re dealing with a group of people who stand up and say they believe in making Ontario great and supporting people. But the best thing you can do if you want to